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In early July 1889 while painting in the fields near the asylum, Van Gogh suffered a severe breakdown. Incapacitated for five weeks, the artist retreated to his studio, refusing to go out even to the garden. This painting is the first work he produced after recovering from that episode.
In a letter to his brother Theo written in early September 1889, he observed :
"They say - and I am very willing to believe it - that it is difficult to know yourself - but it isn't easy to paint yourself either. So I am working on two portraits of myself at this moment - for want of another model--because it is more than time I did a little figure work. One I began the day I got up; I was thin and pale as a ghost. It is dark violet-blue and the head whitish with yellow hair, so it has a color effect. But since then I have begun another one, three quarter length on a light background".
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Les faux Van Gogh
La vente record (40 millions de dollars au magnat japonais de l'assurance Yasuo Goto) d'un bouquet de tournesols de Vincent Van Gogh, par Christie's le 30 mars 1987, sera à l'origine d'un scandale majeur.
Self-portrait
A self-portrait is a portrait where the artist is also the subject. Usually it is in the form of a painting, drawing, or similar graphic image
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